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My next safe is going to be a Sturdy Safe. http://www.sturdysafe.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's going to cost me about $4500.00. It will protecting about 8 times that value in guns. It will be in a dedicated safe room in the house, 2 hour fire rated enclosure and alarms and security out the wazoo. I will be living out in the sticks where Fire or Police response will not be quick. Some will say I am crazy for spending that much on a safe and to just make sure there is enough insurance to cover them. Well, there will be guns and other things that can't be replaced in that safe and I want to do everything I can to protect them for getting taken in the first place.

Deltaboy wrote:Nothing like a fear tactic video. Plenty of what is wrong with this Video has already been stated. Buy something in line with your collection. I have less than 1500 tied up in mine since most were gifts growing up and I love to buy Used.

For items that were gifts or have been in the family for a long time, I tend to place a higher value on them because to me some of those are irreplaceable.

KD5NRH wrote:

Keith B wrote:While I agree you should buy a decent and well built safe, I call shenanigans on the video and think they doctored the safe to be able to get into it easier.

The whole situation was doctored: first, safes are placed against walls, so they wouldn't have been able to push it over and get the extra leverage; second, most people don't have their safe in a large empty room. Look at how much space they needed to work on the safe.

The most obvious is that Charlie Crackhead and his buddies aren't that organized and dedicated; those guys had a lot more in the way of tooling than the typical burglar, and a lot more cooperation.

IMO, the best setup I've seen was a safe behind a false wall in an under-the-stairs closet. It was set in such a way that the closet walls were right up against the safe, and the closet itself had a separate alarm circuit.

Personally, I'm just in the process of hardening a closet bit by bit. Already have the electronic combination deadbolt on the door, (the backup key is locked up elsewhere, so not available for my daughter to find, and no keys to look for when something is needed) planning to reinforce the door, then sheath the walls with 3/4" plywood. Not sledgehammer proof, but it can't be carried off either. Since the door opens out, strengthening it against a kick-in is simpler, and captive-pin or other anti-tamper hinges are on the list.

When I build my new house in a couple of years, I am building a dedicated gun safe room. It won't have a vault door on it but I am going to beef it up considerably and build it completely surrounded with 2 layers of 5/8" type X fire rated sheetrock. I will have a couple of hidden cameras as well as motion switches and door tamper switches connected as a silent alarm zone as well. As to the door, I'm thinking of going with either a solid core wood door with reinforced framing around the jam and one of the electronic locks as well. I have even considered putting one of the corrugated roll up doors behind it. I have a LOT of money invested in guns and where I will be living neither fire nor police will be close by.

I don't understand the line of reasoning of "let's put this collection of guns worth thousands or even tens of thousands of $$ in the cheapest "safe" we can buy".

MechAg94 wrote:I have a $1000 or so safe. That one is not a $1000 safe IMO. Looking at the edges of the door, it looks like the metal is pretty thin. Also, it only has a few and rather small locking lugs that didn't appear to stick out from the door very far. Mine appears much more robust by comparison.

Regarding fire ratings, you are going to have to determine what you are worried about most. Theft or Fire or both? IMO, you should figure what minimum theft deterrence you want/need and then look at those models are better for fire ratings.

Almost all RSC's have 12 gauge or 10 gauge metal at best. Also 1" locking bolts are standard.

You have to step up considerably in price to get thicker metal and larger/more locking bolts.

Keith B wrote:Something doesn't look right to me. When they get the door open, look at the back of it. It looks like a panel has been removed from the back of the door and the door is basically flexing. This would allow them to more easily pry the door out.

While I agree you should buy a decent and well built safe, I call shenanigans on the video and think they doctored the safe to be able to get into it easier.

That is a Liberty safe. Probably one of their lower end units, but not a cheap safe none the less.

RSC's are for the most part very poorly constructed and surprisingly easy to defeat at the hands of someone that knows what they are doing.

chabouk wrote:The first "FAIL" in that video was when they knocked the safe over on its back. they had to do that, because there was no way they could get enough leverage to pry the door open without using gravity in their favor.

If your safe isn't anchored to the wall and/or floor, shame on you. I suggest putting all your ammo, lead, and reloading supplies inside as well. The more weight, the better.

This is also a good time to point out that focusing on the fire rating, rather than the metal specs, is foolish. If two safes weigh the same and one has a higher fire rating, that means they've replaced steel with sheetrock.

So you are advocating not having a fire rated safe?

If'n your going to get a gun safe don't go to the nearest, cheapest place to get it. There's a reason they are cheap.

My next one will be a Sturdy Safe.

http://www.sturdysafe.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;